Special Education

IDEA Delay: The U.S. Department of Education has once again
pushed back its projected release date for the revised Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act regulations. Officials now say they plan to
have a final document out early next month.

The department is working as quickly as possible, spokesman Jim
Bradshaw said last week. Congress amended the IDEA in June 1997, and,
initially, the related rules were expected to be issued in April of
this year. But the time frame for their release has faltered.

In Congress, House GOP members are "frustrated and disheartened,"
although they probably wouldn't take any action against the department
until late January, said Jay Diskey, a spokesman for Republicans on the
House Education and the Workforce Committee. During their three-month
winter adjournment, members will likely hear complaints from their
constituents, particularly "administrators who have had to go for 18
months without any solid guidance," he predicted.

In the shadow of the regulatory debate, another key federal document
will probably miss its annual deadline. The department's "Twentieth
Annual Report to Congress"--the omnibus report that compiles yearly
statistics on special education and reports on trends within the
field--also probably won't be released until January, Mr. Bradshaw
said.

The report, which is required to be compiled each year, was last
released in December 1997.

Aid to D.C.: A state agency in neighboring Maryland is
lending a helping hand--complete with gavel--to try to remedy the
District of Columbia school system's enormous backlog of special
education cases.

In a partnership forged last month, the Maryland Office of
Administrative Hearings will provide judges to help the Washington
schools make a dent in their caseload, according to Washington
officials. About 2,500 students in the nation's capital say they have
been denied special education services and have awaited due-process
hearings for months, sometimes years.

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who has led the 77,000-student
district since July, has made fixing special education a priority.

Denise Tann, a spokeswoman for the schools, said Ms. Ackerman
promotes partnerships as reform tools. This fall, Frieda Lacey, a
special education official on leave from the 125,500-student Montgomery
County, Md., district, was named Ms. Ackerman's special assistant and
assigned to revamp the special education department.